


Missing You

by Winddance



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff and Angst, Gift Fic, Happy Ending, Long Shot, M/M, Pro Swimmer Nanase Haruka, Slow Burn, Some Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 00:41:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21262262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winddance/pseuds/Winddance
Summary: When Makoto left for an exchange program over seas, Everything was going well. It wasn't until he began to ignore his boyfriend that things started to go down hill for Haru.





	Missing You

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, thank you for reading this. This is actually a gift fic for one of my best friends as she loves Free! Just as much as I do. But I decided to post it on here as well. I would like to apologize in advance that this fic is probably filled with inaccuracies and grammar mistakes. I did try my best, but well. I dont know. 
> 
> As always I do not own any one in this fic, all characters belong to the rightful owners of Kyoto animation, and this is just a work of fiction.

Haruka pushed himself out of the pool, tired and a bit sore from practising for so long. It was late at night and the swimmer was all alone, save for the custodian who was waiting patiently to lock up the sports arena. 

He quickly dried off, and changed out of his swim suit, and into his university team swim jacket and matching track pants. He then stuffed his damp swimsuit into his gym bag, and pulled out his phone and placed it in his pocket. Then he quietly left the changeroom. 

The Raven haired boy was looking forward to going back to his tiny apartment which was just off campus, cooking some mackerel and then skyping with his boyfriend, who was currently away studying in America on an exchange program. 

He walked outside in the warm night air, and made his way to the bus stop which was across the street from the arena. There were not many people around at this time of night. But Haruka never minded that much anyway. He always enjoyed the peace and quiet. 

As he stood and waited for his bus, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and frowned when he read the message. 

From: Makoto  
Sent At: 22:09  
Ah..Haru! I’m sorry, but I cannot call you tonight, I completely forgot that I have a study date with some of my classmates.

Haru inwardly sighed and grew a bit sad. This was the third time this week, that his boyfriend had cancelled his plans with him. Not to mention, he had been strangely quiet with him within the last couple of weeks. 

For his final year of Uni, Makoto had decided to sign himself up for a 6 month work exchange program in America. He had been really nervous about going, but at the same time, both Makoto and Haruka knew that it would be good for the gentle giant of the man to go off and discover something new. 

Makoto promised that he would call, and text every day while he was gone, Haruka himself had even promised him that he would be better with using the phone, and for about 3 months things were going good, despite being time zones apart, they made it work.The two of them would set up little skype dates and watch movies together. But despite everything, Haruka still missed his boyfriend more than he thought he ever would. 

He missed his presence, and the sound of his warm voice. He missed the shared dinners, and cozy nights spent tucked into each others warmth. He had even begun to miss how he would use “chan” at the end of his name. 

At the same time though, he was happy and proud of his boyfriend to step out of his comfort zone. Despite being nervous about leaving everything he knew. Makoto, traveled halfway across the world. All by himself, he had to travel to a strange city, and attend a new school. He had to adjust to the different time zones, and also the workload that the university put on him.

All by himself, he had to learn a new language, and meet new people. 

Haru honestly, couldn’t be prouder of his boyfriend. He was happy for him that he took this opportunity. 

Everything started to change though about 3 weeks ago, when Makoto had slowly but surely started to forget or ignore his texts and calls. At first it Haru hardly noticed it. Of Course there would be times when the other was busy and such. But it just had gotten worse and worse to where we are now. 

Sighing, Haru sent him a quick text in response before seeing his bus turn the corner and head in his direction

To: Makoto  
Sent at 22:11  
Its ok, have fun studying with your friends.

From: Makoto  
Sent at 22:12  
I will Haru, I love you!

Haruka closed his phone, and took out his bus pass from his wallet, before stepping on the bus.  
As the bus took him home, he looked out the window and sighed as he thought about his boyfriend halfway across the world. 

The apartment was cool and quiet when Haruka finally arrived back home. He placed his gym bag down, and pulled on his house slippers. He ventured down the hall and towards the kitchen, trying not to look at the photos that were lined on the wall.

“Meow”

A familiar sound peeped from at his feet. Haruka looked down and noticed that their cat or daughter, as Nagisa liked to tease, had joined him in the kitchen. Haru bent down and rubbed her face. She began to purr with content. 

They were not planning on having any animals other than the fish tank that sat in a corner of the living room.  
Yet, when the second year of university came and the two moved into the small apartment. Ren and Ran surprised the two of them by sneaking the white cat that always used to hang around Haruka’s old house in Iwatobi, with them on one of their trips to visit the two boys. 

To this day he doesn't know how they managed to sneak the cat in one of their bags, without either of their parents noticing, especially Makoto’s dad who sneezed as soon as he saw them.  
But in the end he was glad that they did. 

After feeding Saba.. Yes Saba.. (Haru’s idea not Makotos) Haruka himself decided to skip dinner tonight and walked to his and Makoto’s room. His appetite had left him earlier. and though he knew that his coach would be upset for him skipping a meal. What he didn’t know, wouldn't hurt him.

Instead of changing into his usual pajamas, The raven haired boy, ventured over to Makoto’s dresser and pulled out some old comfortable clothes that he had not taken with him when he left. He slipped them. Then walked over to his bed, and plopped himself on it. 

He crawled over to Makoto’s side of the bed, and nosed the pillow. It had long lost the smell of the younger boy, but Haru did not care. It brought a bit of comfort to him knowing that this side of the bed was his boyfriend’s, and that the jumper he had one was Makotos. 

***

Meanwhile 

Makoto sat halfway across the world in his dorm bedroom in Sunny California. The sunshine streamed through the open window, and the sound of traffic was forever apparent in the background.

He looked at his phone and regretted sending the text that he had just sent to his boyfriend.  
He did not have a study date. In fact, he did not have any university classes at all today. Nor did he need to study for his exam tomorrow as he felt that was had studied all of the necessary material enough already. 

“Makoto..

“Makoto?..” Rin’s voice sounded from his laptop,which was currently plugged in on the desk in front of him.The redhead had moved closer to his laptop, as if trying to see if the Skype call had frozen. 

“Huh, Oh sorry, Rin.” He said, bringing himself out of his thoughts and focusing his attention back on the screen. 

“Hey, don’t feel bad, your going to see him soon” Rin could tell just by Makoto’s face, that he was thinking about Haru. He had seen the anxious look on his friend all to often. 

Makoto nodded his head, though he felt bad about turning down his boyfriend so many times this week alone. He had a good reason to. About 2 months ago, he decided that he wanted to surprise his boyfriend with a visit. Once he told his friends of his plans, Rin helped in finding him a cheap flight online. It would be during his short break between classes, not long enough to be able to travel home to see his parents unfortunately. But long enough for him to be able to see Haru. 

But, as the date that he would leave approached, he had begun to grow more nervous every time that he would talk to Haru, which had been almost every day. Because he was afraid that he would blurt it out. So for the last couple of weeks he had to brush off the older boy. 

“Yeah, I know, I'm just nervous that I am gonna mess something up. Or accidentally tell him that I'm coming.. Or-r” 

Makoto stammered, automatically switching back to Japanese because heard the door open to his dorm, meaning his roommates had returned to their dorm. 

“Your over thinking again, Makoto.” Rin sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He loved Makoto, but his friend tended to over think everything.

Makoto sat back in his chair and tried to relax. 

“When are you leaving again?” Rin asked.

“The day after tomorrow, right after my exam.” he said smiling at Rin. 

“Do you have everything planned for how you are gonna surprise him?” 

“M-hmm” Makoto nodded his head. 

“Rei is going to meet me at the airport, while Nagisa is going to take Haru out, before bringing him to the university pool. I will then surprise him when he is done swimming. Last night I called and reserved a table for us at the new restaurant by the university, The one that Haru mentioned had 3 different Mackerel entrees”

Rin snorted at the last part and rolled his eyes.  
He knew the very place, Haruka had told him all about it about a month ago. When he traveled to Japan to see his sister. If he was being honest with himself, he wanted the water loving boy to actually shut up as he went on and on about the Mackerel dishes at the restaurant.

But, the sparkle in the raveonettes blue eyes was as bright as the sun as he talked about the food, And it made Rin smile a bit, as it had been a while since he had seen Haruka get so excited over something that was not water or Makoto. 4 months to be precise. 

“Sounds perfect, I just wish that I could be there to see the look on his face when he sees you.” Rin said, 

“I’m sorry you will miss it”

“So am I, but I will see him again soon, there's an international competition in a few weeks, that we both qualified for. So we will see eachother then.” Rin said, switching back to english.

The two boys chatted easily for a few more minutes, before Rin had to end the call because he wanted to get a couple more hours of sleep before he needed to go to swim practise.

Makoto smiled as he shut down the program, and looked at the photo that was his screensaver. It was a photo that his mother had taken right before they were to leave for their first year of university. The photo showed Makoto smiling wide, with his arms around Haruka’s waist. Haru looked indifferent as he usually did when had his photo taken. But his eyes shone with happiness. 

“I’ll see you soon Haru-chan” Makoto murmured softly before, smiling and closing his laptop. 

As he was tidying up his desk, the sound of his phone vibrating brought the man out of his thoughts. Recognizing the number he picked up the device and answered it. 

“Hello Nagisa, I just got done talking to Rin.” The Olive haired man says, smiling through the phone. 

“Hello there, Mako-Chan!. Nagsa said loudly said on the other end of the line. Makoto could see Nagisa’s bright cheerful smile in his mind, even though he was just talking over the phone. 

“I just wanted to call you and let you know that I went ahead and bought those tickets for that art gallery for the end of the week.”  
Nagisa said, getting right to the point of the call.

Over the last week or so, Makoto and Nagisa had been going back and forth sharing different ideas on where Nagisa could lure Haruka out of the apartment for a while Rei would pick up Makoto from the airport like planned. Nagisa would then take Haru to the pool, where he would surprise him their. 

“Oh, I'm glad Nagisa” Makoto said, “Would you like me to pay you back?” 

Nagisa chuckled to himself. “No, No, Makoto, I don’t mind at all, the tickets were pretty cheap anyway.” He was looking forward to hanging out with the older boy, as he had not spent a whole lot of time with him lately. 

“Thankyou Nagisa, I just hope that he will want to go.” Makoto says, worried about his friend potentially wasting money on tickets. 

“Its a water art, exhibit Makoto..” Nagisa sounded serious from the other end of the line.

Makoto nodded his head before suddenly realizing that the younger boy couldn’t see him. 

“Your right.” he snickered. 

A few seconds of silence passed before Makoto spoke again. 

“So, How has Haru been lately?” 

Nagisa was quiet for a moment, Even though the two were on the same swim team, Nagisa hadn’t really had a chance outside of the team to get together with the small blonde. He knew that the raven haired boy was missing Makoto though. 

“He’s been ok, Mako-chan. His swimming is still great, and he’s always on time for practises and competitions.. But it's as if a small part of him is missing. I know he misses you.”Nagisa finished frowning. 

“I miss him too, it’s been so hard not to tell him that I am coming.” Makoto said sitting back in his chair and running a hand through his hair.

“I know it has, but you will see each other soon.” 

“Yeah, I will won’t I?” 

Makoto suddenly noticed the time and that it was probably quite late for his friend to be still awake half a world away.

“ Ahh, Nagisa, I didn’t realize the time it is, I will let you go so you can sleep.” 

Nagisa giggled from the other end of the line, he was used to the time difference and had long stopped caring if he had to stay up super late or wake up super early just to have a decent conversation with his best friend. 

“I don;t mind, Makoto, Rei chan is studying across the room from me, and his light is bothering me anyway. “ Nagisa said. 

On the other end of the phone, Makoto could suddenly hear some 

***

The next day 

Haruka, woke up tired and sluggish, He had swim practise in about an hour and a half and then after that he had his cooking class. He rolled over, and pet Saba who was sprawled out beside him. She purred a bit and closed her eyes, enjoying being pet. 

Once the swimmer got up, he picked up his phone on the way to the bathroom. Deciding that he would surprise makoto with a call. He hadn’t heard from the other since their failed skype date the other night. He also knew the other would be done his exam by this time, as it should be and should be back in his dorm. So it should be the perfect time. 

Once the tub was filled with cool water, Haru changed into his swimsuit, and stepped into the tub carefully. He closed his eyes for a moment and rested his back against the tub wall. He took a deep breath and relaxed. 

After a couple of moments of pure silence, Haruka wiped his hands dry from the towel that always sat on the bathtubs ledge, and then picked up his phone. He scrolled through his contacts and pressed on his boyfriends. 

He called the number, and let it ring. ..and ring…and ring, before the sound of Makoto’s voice came through the other end.

“Hell-”  
His voice was cut off with Makoto’s automatic voice message.

“This is Tachibana Makoto, I am unable to pick up my phone right now, but please leave a message and I will get back to you.” 

Dejected, Haruka ended the call without leaving a message. He let out a sigh, had he maybe done something to piss the younger boy off? He, at first had just dismissed the younger boy with being busy, University was hard, and Makoto was in his final year. He also was currently living halfway around the world, and it could be hard for their schedules to match. 

But after so many missed calls, and “skype” dates with his boyfriend, and then practically having radar silence from the younger boy these last couple of weeks. Haru’s insides were beginning to twist and turn with anxiety.

He looked at his black phone screen for a couple of minutes before deciding to open his contact list again. 

Even though he knew that he would see the younger soon at practise. He just wanted to hear his friends voice for some reason, He wanted to just hear anyone's voice. 

Nagisa picked up on the second ring. 

“HARU-CHAN” The young blonde’s voice blasted through his ears. So loud that he had to move his ear away from the phone. He was excited for Haru to call him, even though Nagisa would see him soon. 

“Hey Nagisa, How are you?” Haru asked, making conversation. 

“Im excellent Haru. Just on my way to swim practise, How have you been?” the blonde asked, as he navigated the halls. 

“I’ve been alright.” 

“Just alright, Haru chan.You sound a bit down?” Nagisa asked a bit quizzically. 

He knew for a few weeks that his best friend was down, his eyes did not sparkle much, and his swimming looked a bit off. But between swimming and school, he just hadn’t had a lot of time to spend with Haru friend lately. He felt a bit bad at that. But, if something was really bothering the older boy, he trusted that Haruka would say something to him or Rei.

“Oh..” Haruka said, sitting up a bit. He did not really want his friend to know that he was currently feeling a bit petty that Makoto had been ignoring his calls. 

“Has, Makoto said anything to you the last couple of days?” He asked. 

There was a few seconds of silence from both ends. Nagisa did not know what to say. He had spent countless weeks not spilling the beans.

“N-No Haru-Chan I haven’t heard anything from Makoto. Why do you ask?” Nagisa was having a hard time trying to act innocent. Like he did not know the real reason why Makoto was currently ignoring his Haru-Chan.

“He’s just been...quiet these last few days, he cancelled our skype call last night, and the night before that. I just tried to reach him but he wasn’t answering.”

“I’m sure he’s just busy Haru-chan. He probably has exams or something, You know how he can get when he studies..” 

“Yeah, I do..”

Haruka knew that Makoto could be quite the serious student. He always strives to do well in class, Haru couldn’t even recall the last time Makoto ever took sick leave. Or was late for a single class or lab. He was the perfect student. 

It certainly was not the first time that things had grown silent between them. However, Makoto or Haru could just go to each other houses, or simply walk into the same room, and demand attention from one another. 

They had never been this far apart for this long, Not even when Haru himself was away at swimming competitions. 

“A-Ahh, Haru-chan, Rei is calling me from the other end, You should get out of your bath, and head to practise. I will see you when you get here.”

Nagisa lied, there was nobody trying to call him. But he just did not want to blurt out any of the details. 

Haruka sighed a bit, if he did not have the phone up to his ear, he would of went under the water. 

“Alright Nagisa, I will see you soon” 

Haruka ended the call, and placed his phone down on the ledge. He then dunked his head under the water. The phone call did not really help ease him like he thought it might. But it ease him a little bit knowing that Nagisa, had also not heard anything from the younger boy. 

His thoughts began taking another direction. Had he screwed up something? Did he miss an important anniversary of some kind? Haru pondered, he didn’t think so. He knew that he was bad at forgetting stuff, like calling Rin for instance. But he always remembered important dates. They were written down on his calendar which was hanging in the kitchen.  
Maybe Makoto wasn’t busy at all and was just simply brushing him off because he found better people to hang out with. 

The water in the tub suddenly did not feel right to Haruka. It felt as if someone had thrown dirt into the clear blue water, dirtying its depths and causing it to turn to mud. 

No..Makoto would not do that. He would never do that again to him. He made a promise all those years ago that he would never grow distant from him. 

Haru thought to himself as he got out of the tub. And got changed, He walked into the kitchen, and poured some food for his cat. He pushed any negative thoughts into the back of his mind, and instead focused on grilling some Mackerel.

He showed up to swim practice a little while later. For the most part he was able to keep his negative thoughts at bay. He focused his attention to his coaches, and teamed up with Nagisa when they had to partner up for drill. Nagisa clung to him like glue, but instead of trying to get away from his noisy friend. He was happy to hear his chatter for a change. He didn’t think he would miss the sound of chatter as much as he had, since his boyfriend left. 

****

The next day Haruka found himself in the same sort of mood as yesterday. He tried to focus on other things like, cleaning the apartment and feeding the fish. But with each day and no new texts or calls from his boyfriend, Haruka was beginning to draw a little weary. 

As he was grilling his mackerel his phone rang. He let go of the pan and pulled it out of his pocket. It was the Makoto, so he answered it. 

“Hello Haru-chan” The voice sounded far away and staticky. Haru could hardly even distinguish that it was his boyfriend on the other end. 

“Makoto?”

“Har-u”

“Makoto, I can’t hear you” He replied. 

“Haru can you hear me?” His voice was coming in a bit better, but it still sounded like he was surrounded by a sea of people. 

Haruka ended the call and frowned. Tossing his phone on the counter, not caring if it broke. He cursed silently to himself, about the stubid distance between them. 

All of a sudden he smelt something burning, he looked down and noticed that his fish had burnt..

GREAT! Haruka thought to himself, a perfectly good breakfast ruined. Quickly, he turned off the stove, then threw out the offending odor in the trash can. 

He thought about making another but if he did then he would be late to swim practise, and he did not really want to be late to swim practise because well.. It involved a pool. 

So instead of making food. The older boy pulled out a water bottle from the fridge and then walked over to his gym bag by the door and threw it in. He then pulled on his shoes and his jacket, and made his way out the door. 

He failed to hear his phone vibrate on the counter. 

Meanwhile at LAX Airport

Makoto looked at the black screen of the phone for a few seconds, before pocketing his phone and continuing to briskly walk down the long crowded terminal and towards his gate.  
He hadn’t meant to miss Haru’s call from yesterday, but he lost track of time. As he had to pack, and study. 

He arrived at his gate in time, and double checked that it was the right one. He took a seat and ran his hand through his olive hair. He noticed that the flight stewards were at the front desk and chatting among themselves, He looked a bit over to the right and saw his plane sitting outside the gate, it had not left yet..which was good. 

He was never really one for flying. But the thought that he would be able to see Haruka tomorrow evening and not be bound by a stubid piece of technology for communicating for a week, not to mention the different time zones. Far outweighed the anxious feeling that he had about sitting in a tin can for 11 hours. 

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text to Rei, letting him know that he was at his gate. He figured that the younger was in class, and would respond to him when he was out. 

He also thumbed over his boyfriends contact name, and sent him a quick message

From: Makoto  
To: Haru-Chan <3  
Sent at: 8:21 PM  
Haru Im sorry! didn't mean to miss your call. Let’s talk soon. :(

Makoto pressed send, secretly hoping that the older boy would respond before he got on the plane

“Bzzz Bzzz” the phone vibrated in his hands. Makoto checked the message hoping it was his boyfriend. but sighed, a bit to himself when it was just Rei. 

From: Rei  
Sent at: 8:25 PM

Hello Makoto Senpai, I am glad to hear that you arrived to your gate safe.  
I wish you a great flight. We miss you, and will see you soon. 

Another message quickly followed the last one. 

From Rei  
Sent at: 8:26PM

Also, please remember Makoto Senpai. It has been statistically proven that you have a better chance at getting into an accident on the way to the airport, than you would when you are flying. 

Makoto read the last text message and smirked at his friends attempt to make him feel better.  
He typed out a reply of “thanks” before he opened game application, and began to play while he waited. 

His thoughts turned to his boyfriend again, and he hoped that he had not upset or offended the older for the fact that he had been ignoring him. He felt terrible that he was. But he did not want to accidentally blurt out the fact that he was coming. Not to mention that Haruka could read him like an open book. If Makoto so much as stuttered or looked weird, Haru would know that something was up. 

About 10 minutes later the flight attendants announced that it was time to start boarding the plane. Makoto pulled out his passport, and his plane ticket from his pocket. And stood up to wait for it to be his turn to board. 

Once he successfully boarded the plane and found his seat, Makoto pulled out his phone charger and headphones from his knapsack. Then placed his bag in the overhead bin. Sitting down in the small airline seat which he will have to endure for the next 11 hours. He buckled up before plugging his phone in to charge. 

He kept checking his phone, hoping that Haruka might message him back, But as the plane continued to fill, and the stewardesses began to walk up and down the aisles, making sure everyone was safely buckled up, Makoto began to lose hope that his boyfriend would text him back. So he texted a couple of quick texts to Rin, and his parents, letting them know that he was on his way. 

Another 15 minutes passed before the olive haired boy felt the airplane shift beneath his feet. It began to move backwards signalling that it was leaving the gate. Smiling, Makoto turned his phone on airplane mode and sat back in his seat. He half listened to the attendants walk through their safety course about the plane and half thought about Haruka. 

“Just hold on a bit longer Haruka, I'm coming home” Makoto thought to himself as he felt the plane go faster and faster down the tarmac. 

****

The Next Day-Tokyo

Haruka laid in his tub, His legs drawn up to his chest, and with his chin resting on top.The water had long gone cold and his skin was wrinkled from being in the tub for so long. He had long convinced himself that Makoto was definitely ignoring him. 

“Maybe he HAD gotten tired of being with me?” Haruka thought to himself. He had forgotten to bring his phone with him yesterday after the failed call he had with Makoto. But when he texted his boyfriend back, he never received a reply.

“Maybe he decided that he didn’t want to be with a guy anymore and found himself a girlfriend?”

Haruka sighed softly to himself, The two had been dating since the start of university, and had both only ever had been with each other. Haruka always knew that Makoto was “it” with him. But had Makoto grown tired of him? 

Had he learned that other people in relationships, did not eat mackerel 3 times a day? Nor would take time out of their own schedule to make sure their lover was out of the tub every morning. Not to mention sometimes physically dressing them in outfits to make sure that they would be warm enough. 

He was such a bother.

The Raven haired boy was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he failed to notice his front door unlocking.

“Haru?” a voice was heard, It was muffled by the bathroom walls though. 

“Haru-Chan?” The voice grew closer. Then the door opened suddenly. Revealing a young blonde boy.

“Ah, There you are Haru-Chan” he said as he smiled, happy that his friend was indeed home. 

Haruka looked in Nagisa’s direction, but didn’t remained quiet. 

“Are you ok Haru?” Nagisa asked, he knew something had been wrong with the older boy for the last little while. 

Haru shook his head, no he wasn’t ok. Nagisa walked over quickly, and dropped down to his knees in front of the tub. He grabbed one of harus hands and held it in his own

“Why is Makoto ignoring me? What did I do this time cause him to push me away?” Haruka didn’t notice tears falling down from his face. 

Nagisa smiled gently and used his free hand that wasn’t clutched in the elders hand to wipe any tears. Ofcourse Makoto ignoring his calls and texts would affect Haru. Despite his character his best friend was pretty sensitive, especially when it came to Makoto. 

“You didn’t do anything, Haru chan. Trust me” 

“Nagisa, I haven't talked to him in almost a goddamn month!, he never calls or he makes excuses when we try to talk online over skype.There has to be a reason!” Haruka half shouted. 

“Shh” the young blonde boy hushed him once again.

A moment of silence filled the room. Nagisa really did not want to say anything about the fact that Makoto was currently sitting on a plane, which was set to land in over a couple of hours.  
But he knew that he needed to say something to Haru. 

“Hey, Haruka, do you trust me?” Nagisa looked into his best friends deep sea blue eyes. 

What kind of question was that? Nagisa,was one of his best friends, one of his only friends still left. He would always trust his fun loving friend. 

Haruka returned Nagisa’s gaze and nodded his head. 

“Then trust me when I say that while Makoto has been quiet these last few weeks, It will all be worth it in the end. Ok? So please don't be sad Haru Chan. He’s not purposely ignoring because he hates you, or is sick of you, or for whatever reason that you have come up with in your head.”

Nagisa took another breath before speaking again. 

“Infact..Makoto has been feeling so bad lately about ignoring you, That he has sent me here today to help make you feel better” Nagsa said, not totally lying..

Haruka looked at him a bit suspicious. “Really?” He asked. 

“MmmHmm” The younger boy nodded his head, his blond curls bouncing on top of his head. 

“So, Why don’t we go out today Haru, and do something fun?” The boy asked, as he smiled. He then held out his hand, like he had seen Makoto do thousands of times before for the older boy to take. 

At first Haruka wanted to say no. He didn’t feel like going anywhere. But something in Nagisa’s eyes made him change his mind. Besides, it was Nagisa...it was not like he had much of a choice.. 

“Fine.” 

Haru rolled his eyes, but nonetheless he grabbed onto the blondes hand and let himself be pulled out of the tub.  
Though Nagisa was maybe short but he was strong and sturdy. He held onto Haruka’s hand firmly, and pulled the tall thing boy to a standing position, Then he let go of his hand and watched as Haru stepped out of the tub himself. 

Haruka changed into his clothes, while Nagisa played with Saba quietly in the livingroom. 

“So what do you have planned for today Nagisa?” Haru walked into the livingroom and stopped in front of the younger. Haru asked him as he dried his hair with a towel. 

Nagisa’s eyes brightened a bit, then he spoke his idea. 

“Well I was wondering if you wanted to check out that new art exhibit downtown. The one that was featuring. What was it?… water drops? watercolor?” 

Nagisa tapped a finger to his chin as he was trying to remember what the exhibit was called. 

“Modern Water Designs” Haru finished for him, holding up a finger.  
He had wanted to go to the exhibit, but did not really want to go alone. He remembered asking Rin if he wanted to go to it last month, when he visited. But the redhead firmly denied him. 

“Ahh Yes, that's the name” Nagisa says chuckling before turning his focus back on the cat.

Haru’s eyes brightened, he tossed his damp towel on the couch. Both boys then walked over to the door entrance, and pulled on their shoes. Haruka grabbed his keys and wallet from the small table beside the door, and then opened the apartment door for Nagisa. 

“Hey Nagisa?” Haru asked as he locked the door to the apartment?

“Yes Haru chan?” The young boy asked a bit eager. 

“How did you get into my apartment anyway? I dont keep my door unlocked anymore. Haru looked at Nagisa seriously. 

Giggling, Nagisa ran a hand through his blonde hair, then pulled Haruka against his side, Then began to walk down the corridors and towards the exit of the building.

“Ohh.. Don’t you worry about that Haru-chan” He smirked. 

Haruka rolled his eyes at his friends comment but let himself be dragged into Nagisa’s embrace. 

****

Makoto’s Arrival

Rei rushed into the arrivals section of the airport hot and sweaty. The bus that he was on got delayed causing him to be late in picking up the older boy.  
He bent down, placing his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He felt bad that he was late. But at least he had texted Makoto while he was on the bus to let him know that he might be late. 

As Rei was still catching his breath, he failed to notice the large shadow figure come and loom over him. Looking up, he noticed that the figure was familiar, with his wide shoulders and muscular figure. 

“Hello Rei” Makoto said as he closed his eyes, and smiled wide. 

“Ah, Makoto Senpai!” Rei broke out in a huge smile, and embraced the older boy. 

Happy at seeing his friend again, finally without a screen standing in front of them, Makoto returned his embrace tightly. 

“I hope you were not waiting long, I am sorry for the delay!” Rei said, as he stepped out of the embrace. He was sorry that he was not right here when Makoto stepped through the doors. He was never one for being tardy. 

Makoto looked at his best friend shaking his head, “No I have only been waiting for a bit, I had to wait for my bags anyway.”

Rei nodded his head in understanding, before reaching out to grab one of Makoto’s knapsacks that had been sitting on top of on top of his small luggage case. 

Makoto grabbed the handle of his suitcase, and let it roll behind him, as he and Rei made their way outside. 

“How has Haru been Rei?” Makoto asked the younger boy once they were outside and walking towards the bus stop. 

Rei looked at Makoto before sighing, “He’s been withdrawn lately to be honest with you. He hardly texts or wants to hang out with Nagisa or I” 

“I had a feeling that he would start to close off” Makoto frowned. He didnt like the feeling that Haruka had started to close back into himself. 

“But you are here now Makoto Senpai, Haruka will feel better once he sees you I am sure. It has been really hard not telling him that you are coming.” Rei said smiling as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text to his boyfriend Nagisa, letting him know that Makoto was with safely him, and they would be on their way soon.

“I’m sure he will.” Makoto smiled. 

The bus arrived then, and the two climbed aboard. Makoto took a seat next to the window, and stared out the window. He had missed the familiarity of Japan. He had missed the sights and sounds of his city, he missed his friends, and speaking his mother language with people who could actually understand him. He missed the food, heck he even missed eating mackerel everyday. There was just something that Japan had, that America did not have.. And that was his Haru chan. 

On the other side of Tokyo in a small but well lit art gallery, Nagisa stood still, as he read the text that his boyfriend had sent. Smiling, he let out a giggle. He was happy that Makoto was here safe. He sent a quick text back before noticing that Haruka was looking at him. 

“What are you snickering about?” Haruka asked from where he stood a few feet away, before bringing his attention back on the beautiful ocean scene that an artist had painted in front of him. 

“Oh, nothing Haru-chan,” He said, glancing at the taller boy, while subconsciously bringing his phone closer to his chest, even though he knew from where he stood that Haru wouldn't see the text that Rei had sent. 

“I am just thinking of something funny that Rei chan did last night” 

Nagisa said, lying again. He pocketed his phone but the lie must of been believable because Haru did not reply, and instead continue to stare at each painting.

The two had been at the art gallery for over an hour, Haruka and Nagisa taking their time to stare at each piece of artwork.Nagisa never knew that there were so many ways that water could be incorporated into pieces of art and though he had long grown bored at looking at so many water scenes, it was nice to see Haru looking happy for a change, his eyes bright with wonder as he spoke about each piece that they saw. 

“Look at this piece Nagisa, Doesn’t it remind you of Iwatobi?” Haru spoke softly, as he pointed to a nearby painting. 

Nagisa stood still and looked at the painting that Haruka was pointing at.The painter had captured a beautiful painting of a beach which was very similar to the one that was back home. The waves were gently rolling onto the beach, and the shadows were done really well. In the distance dots of houses were scene. It did remind him of back home. It looked like it was simply a photo that someone took instead of a painting. 

“I wish Makoto was here to see this,” Haruka whispered so low that Nagisa almost didn’t catch what he said.  
He smiled gently over at his friend, who was still enraptured with the water. Carefully he wrapped his hand around the elders biceps. Still holding onto him, he drew himself closer so that their bodies touched. 

“I miss him too Haru.” Nagisa gently murmured back to him and placed his head on haruka’s shoulder. They both stared at the painting, each thinking about Makoto and memories about Iwatobi. If Nagisa did not know any better he would have thought that Haruka had leaned into him a bit. But surely that was just his imagination playing tricks on him. 

After a moment or two of silence, Nagisa cleared his throat. 

“So, Haru, looking at all this water, has really made me feel like swimming. Would you perhaps like to go for a swim?” Nagisa let go of the taller boy. He hoped that his best friend would agree. 

Haru immediately nodded. 

Bait taken. 

“Let’s go then, Haru-chan” Nagisa smiled and started to walk towards the exit.

“Drop the -chan” Haruka muttered as he followed close behind. 

Nagisa had to stifle his laughter at the comment. Ah his best friend was returning to normal. He knew that this outing was a great idea. 

He lead the raven haired boy out of the art gallery and onto the road. They were only a few blocks away from the university so they decided to walk. It was a beautiful day anyway. The air was warm and there was no wind. To pass the time while they walked, Nagisa decided to ask what was Haruka’s favourite water scene.The blue eyed boy looked at the blonde with wonder, before answering him. 

Once they arrived at the pool, they both changed, Haruka was quicker than Nagisa was. But Nagisa did not mind, he instead decided to send a quick text to Rei and Makoto letting them know that they were at the pool. 

From: Rei <3  
Received At:15:30  
We will be there shortly, Makoto wanted to drop his stuff off at the apartment, before leaving. 

To: Rei <3  
Sent:15:32  
That sounds good, Rei. See you guys soon. 

Bursting at his seams that it was almost time for the love birds to reunite, Nagisa left the changing room and entered the pool. Haruka was floating on his back lazily near the middle of the pool. 

He stretched lightly, before stepping onto the diving block and diving into the water with ease, The water was the perfect temperature today. Smiling, Nagisa joined the other boy in the middle of the pool, and the two talked about nothing in particular. 

Time passed slowly, and silence filled their ears. The two were the only ones in the olympic sized pool. Which was nice for a change. 

Wanting to do something to distract them, Nagisa let his feet touch the bottom of the pool, then laid his eyes on his friend who looked to be asleep.

“Hey, Haru wanna race?” He asked, stepping a bit closer to the other. 

“No” Haru said with his eyes closed. He was happy with doing absolutely nothing. Just letting the water embrace him like a blanket. 

“Awe come on Haru-Chan, just to the end of the pool”

“Drop The -chan” Haru turned his head in his friends direction and glared at him with one eye open. 

“Please?” If you win, I will buy you mackerel for a week” Nagisa said bribing him. 

The inky haired boy opened his other eye, before staring at the ceiling. 

“And if you win?” he said a bit more interested in the aspect of a race. 

“You have to buy me a weeks worth of Iwatobi Bread, from that bakery across the city. The blonde said seriously. 

Haruka made a face. His friend still liked that sugary bread?

“That’s literally full of sugar..” He said to the other. 

“I don’t see your point Haru-chan” Nagisa says blinking innocently. 

Haruka let out a breath, before standing in the middle of the pool himself. He really couldnt deny his younger friend. 

“Fine, I will race you. Just one race though.” He said, holding up one finger. 

Nagisa shrieked with joy, before swimming to the ledge of the pool, he grabbed the wall and hoisted himself up,before walking quickly over to the starting block. 

Haruka stared at his friends retreating back, and wondered about the youngers endless energy. He let out another breath and sighed gently, then joined the other who was waiting. 

“Just to the end of the pool, I promise haru” Nagisa said, watching as haru climbed onto the block next to him. 

Haru nodded his head. Both boys fixed their swim caps and pulled on their goggles, before bending down into their starting positions. 

“On the count of three” Nagisa said from his position on the block,

“3..2..1 GO” 

Sysmostanically both boys dove into the water with skilled practise and ease. Haruka surfaced first and quickly focused on the end of the pool. He knew Nagisa’s freestyle was not on par with his,having watched it numerous times when they had to do different strokes for practise. But the other was certainly a professional swimmer nonetheless. He knew that Nagisa could keep up, So he would not go easy on him. If Nagisa wanted a race, he would give him a race.  
Especially when free Mackerel was on the line. 

Nagisa swam as fast as he could, He had quickly filled the gap between the two of them, but already knew that he would not win. Which was perfectly fine as his freestyle was never his greatest stroke. Nagisa just loved the euphoric feeling that Haruka brought him when swimming together. 

As they neared the end of the pool, Haru began to slow down a bit, not enough for Nagisa to pass but just enough so that he wouldn’t slam against the wall. With perfect practise, he slowed down and hit the wall, signalling that he had won. 

Ha Nagisa that was easy, he thought to himself. All the Mackerel for me! 

Quickly turning around, Haruka watched as his teammate quickly drew closer and closer. His friend was really giving it his all, and he was happy to see him enjoying himself. Maybe he would buy him a special brea- 

Haruka stopped thinking to himself as he watched Nagisa make no indication of slowing down. 

Instead, of slowing down past the horizontal black line like he was supposed to do. The younger boy plunged below the surface, and with great skill, did his perfect signature somersault. Kicking off the wall with great strength the younger made his way down the lane towards the other end of the pool.

“Nagisa!” Haruka yelled, watching his friends retreating form swim further and further away from him. Quickly the inky haired boy fixed his goggles back over his eyes, and kicked off the wall himself. 

As he swam quickly trying to catch up to Nagisa, he completely failed to notice that someone had entered the arena and was standing against the wall by the pool entrance, watching him.

Arriving just in time to see Nagisa do his turn at the other end of the pool, Makoto stood by the pool entrance. Even though it had been only a few months since he last saw his boyfriend It felt like it had been centuries. His eyes grew wide wide he watched his boyfriend fly down the lane, catching up to Nagisa, who was actually ahead of him. 

he was he was blown away at his gorgeous form.  
He loved his boyfriends swimming, and had missed it tremendously. To him nothing was more beautiful than watching the mans silky form move through the water. It reminded him of a dolphin’s, it was perfect. 

He was so focused on Haru that he failed to notice that the perfect time to announce his presence was almost over. Quickly, he walked over to the ledge of the pool of the lane that Haru was in, and waited. 

He watched as Nagisa finished clearly first, Nagisa looked up at Makoto but the elder quickly signaled for nagisa to be quiet, he did not want to do anything that might cause haru to lose focus. 

Haruka slapped his hand on the pools rough edge, Panting tiredly, he took of his goggles and rubbed his eyes with his hands. The race took a bit out of him, but he had expected the younger boy to suddenly turn a 50 meter race, into a 100 meter. 

“Nagisa, That was not fair, I demand a rema-” Haru didn’t finish his sentence, finally noticing that they were not alone in the pool anymore. There was a shadowy figure standing above him. Thinking that it was one of his coaches or something Haruka looked up. 

Only to do a double take, as the shadowy man looked an awe ful like his boyfriend. 

“H-Hello, Haru-Chan” Makoto’s rough voice greeted his ears. The olive haired boy closed his eyes and smiled as wide as he could down at him. 

Haruku stared wide eyed at Makoto, He pulled a hand up to his mouth to cover it.  
No way. He had surely knocked his head on the pool wall and is now suffering some sort of concussion. Or this was all some sort of dream that he would soon have to wake up from. 

He looked over at Nagisa but Nagisa just stared back, smiling as wide as Makoto was, Laughing he raised his arms and shouted

“SURPRISE” 

Makoto with tears in his eyes, kneeled down in front of his boyfriend. He offered his hand for the older boy to take. Just like he always used to do when they swam together. 

“Im home, Haru Chan.” He tilted his head.  
. 

“M-ak-oto?” Haru stammered, while reaching out to grab his boyfriends hand. 

Tears slipped from his his green eyes as Makoto nodded his head. 

Makoto grabbed his boyfriends hand tight, and pulled him out of the pool and immediately into his warm embrace. 

Haruka wrapped his arms around Makoto’s waist and hid his face in his neck. He took a whiff of his familiar smell before letting his own tears fall. Makoto had not abandoned him after all. He had not been ignoring him like he had thought. He was right here. Right where he was meant to be. 

“I missed you so much Haru” Makoto whispered into the lanky boys hair.He held the boy tighter against him and gave him a kiss on top of his head. 

“I missed you too” Haru murmured against his boyfriend’s neck. 

”I’m sorry for putting you through any unnecessary stress these last couple of weeks, but I didn't want to say anything that might jeopardize my surprise to see you.” He murmured gently.

Haru did not say anything, he simply leaned into his boyfriends warm chest and relaxed. All of the stress, and worry meant nothing now that his best friend was in his arms. 

“We would also like to apologize Haruka senpai” Rei says stepping away from the wall, where he had been silently taking the reunion in. 

“Yeah, Rei, Rin and I were all sworn to secrecy that we wouldn’t tell you anything.” Nagisa said from his spot in the pool. 

So they DID know, Haruka smiled at his friends and thanked them. They did a really good job. He was definitely surprised. 

Haruka smiled at them warmly, then let go of the younger boy. Nagisa took advantage of Makoto being freed from Haru, and leapt into his arms giving him a warm hug. Rei also followed suit and gave the younger boy another hug. 

The four of them, then walked out of the pool. Rei and Makoto left Nagisa and Haru to change,  
A few minutes later, both boys reemerged from the changing room and met the two boys in the foyer of the arena. 

“Haru, I made us reservations for dinner at that Mackerel restaurant that you have been wanting to try.” Makoto says as he sees the boy appear around the corner. 

Haru’s eyes sparkled at the mention of the fish restaurant, he had been dying to go their, and while he could have easily invited Rei or Nagisa to go with him, it just would not of been the same without Makoto being there with him. 

Makoto smiled freely at Haru, and grabbed his hand then turned to the two other boys.  
“Though I hate to leave you two so soon, Haru and I should head over to the restaurant.  
But I thank you guys both for everything that you did for Haru and I.” Makoto says smiling. 

“It was hardly anything Makoto Senpai.” Rei bowed quickly. Then grabbed onto Nagisa’s hand. He was just happy that everything went according to plan.

Both boys watched the happy couple leave, before Rei turned to look at his boyfriend who was beside him. 

“Nagisa?” He says clearing his throat. 

Nagisa turned his attention to his boyfriend bouncing slightly on his feet. 

“I took the liberty to arrange a special night out as well.” 

“Oh? Where are we going Rei?” Nagisa asked, he smiled wide at his boyfriend, suddenly excited that he had thought of a date for them. 

“I bought us tickets for a 17th century english poetry reading, which is taking place at the library tonight.” Rei finished and smiled wide, fishing two tickets from his wallet to show his beloved.

“Can you believe that they were free?!” Rei said excitedly. He grabbed the blondes hand, and the two began to walk towards the door. 

“Oh..T-That sounds so much fun Rei, and no I cannot believe that they were free.” Nagisa says trying not to frown or show how uneuthusactic he was for his own date. 

Rei then pulled the slightly older boy out of the building and onto the road, talking all about the authors that were supposed to be their at the event, while Nagisa tried to show interest. 

Later that night after a relaxing dinner at the restaurant. Haru and Makoto slowly made their way back to their small apartment for the night.The two never had never stopped talking, and even though Haru did not like to be touched much, he relished the feeling of Makoto holding his hand all throughout the evening. 

When they got home, Saba greeted them both at the door, she was also quite delighted at having her other dad home safe, and was ready for her turn for affection.

For the first time all evening, Makoto let go of his boyfriends to bend down and pick up his darling cat. He kissed her nose and listened to her purr in his arms. He missed her alot too, and had even made haru take multiple photos of her while he was gone. 

Haru took this opportunity to take off his shoes, and pull out his and Makoto’s slippers out from the shoe rack. He then shuffled into the kitchen and began to make some tea for Makoto and him. 

With the cat still in his arms, Makoto followed Haru’s lead, but he took his time, to relish in being back home. He looked at the familiar photos and the coffee table. He even stopped and looked at Haru’s trophies which were sitting on a mantle next to the TV. He missed his small apartment in the busy city of Tokyo more than he ever thought. 

Once he entered the kitchen, he leaned up against the wall, and simply watched Haru boil the kettle and smiled at the elder tiredly. 

“Hey Haru,” he says after a moment of silence. 

“Hm?” Haru looked in Makoto’s direction from his spot at the stove. 

“Tadaima” 

More than happy to hear those words again, Haru smiled, walked over to his boyfriend. 

“Okaeri” he whispered back to his best friend and rose onto his tippy toes to gently kiss his lips in greeting. He then swept him into another hug, with Saba happily between them.

All was right in the world once again, His soulmate was home, right here in his arms once again. Haruka was not forgotten or left behind like so many did to him before. Makoto always came back, Because His home was in Haruka’s heart, just like Haruka’s home was in Makoto’s.

The End


End file.
